| − | Babcock served three terms in the Montana House of Representatives prior to his 1960 election as lieutenant governor, when [[Vice President of the United States|Vice President]] [[Richard M. Nixon]] carried Montana against Senator [[John F. Kennedy]]. He succeeded to the governorship in 1962 upon the death by airplane crash of Governor Donald Grant Nutter (1915-962). During his tenure, he proposed a three-percent sales tax to support the state government. In 1964, Babcock endorsed [[Barry Goldwater]] of [[Arizona]] for the [[Republican Party|Republican]] presidential nomination, one of only three of the then sixteen Republican governors. Babcock was joined by Governors [[Henry Bellmon]] of [[Oklahoma]] and [[Paul Fannin]] of Arizona. Goldwater was decisively defeated by the Democrat [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] of [[Texas]], who also won Montana's then four [[electoral votes]].<ref>{{cite journal|title= The 1964 Election in Montana|author=Thomas Payne|journal=The Western Political Quarterly|volume=18| issue = 2|quotation= The 1964 Elections in the West|date=June 1965|pages=491–494|doi=10.2307/445294|jstor= 445294}}</ref> Babcock narrowly won a full term in 1964 against the Democrat Roland R. Renne (1905-1989), the former president of [[Montana State University]], then Montana State College. From 1964 to 1965, he a member of the National Governors' Conference Executive Committee, and from 1966 to 1967 he chaired the Western Governors' Conference. | + | Babcock served three terms in the Montana House of Representatives prior to his 1960 election as lieutenant governor, when [[Vice President of the United States|Vice President]] [[Richard M. Nixon]] carried Montana against Senator [[John F. Kennedy]]. He succeeded to the governorship in 1962 upon the death by airplane crash of Governor Donald Grant Nutter (1915-962). During his tenure, he proposed a three-percent sales tax to support the state government. In 1964, Babcock endorsed [[Barry Goldwater]] of [[Arizona]] for the [[Republican Party|Republican]] presidential nomination, one of only three of the then sixteen Republican governors. Babcock was joined by Governors [[Henry Bellmon]] of [[Oklahoma]] and [[Paul Fannin]] of Arizona. Goldwater was decisively defeated by the Democrat [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] of [[Texas]], who also won Montana's then four [[electoral votes]].<ref>{{cite journal|title= The 1964 Election in Montana|author=Thomas Payne|journal=The Western Political Quarterly|volume=18| issue = 2|quotation= The 1964 Elections in the West|date=June 1965|pages=491–494|doi=10.2307/445294|jstor= 445294}}</ref> Babcock narrowly won a full term in 1964 against the Democrat Roland R. Renne (1905-1989), the former president of Montana State University in Bozeman, then Montana State College. From 1964 to 1965, he a member of the National Governors' Conference Executive Committee, and from 1966 to 1967 he chaired the Western Governors' Conference. |
| | In 1966, Governor Babcock ran unsuccessfully against then incumbent [[United States Senator]] Lee Warren Metcalf (1911-1978), who improved his showing from his previous Senate race in 1960. | | In 1966, Governor Babcock ran unsuccessfully against then incumbent [[United States Senator]] Lee Warren Metcalf (1911-1978), who improved his showing from his previous Senate race in 1960. |
| − | When Babcock ran for re-election in 1968, he faced a [[primary]] challenge from his lieutenant governor, Ted James. | + | When Babcock ran for re-election in 1968, he faced a [[primary]] challenge from his lieutenant governor, Ted James. Babcock defeated James but then lost the [[general election]] to the Democrat state Attorney General Forrest Howard Anderson (1913-1989, who bucked the Nixon tide in Montana that year.. |